Emma Mærsk, Worlds Largest Container Carrier


Containers:

Sizes, real and scale:

Container capacity is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU, or sometimes teu). An equivalent unit is a measure of containerized cargo capacity equal to one standard 20 ft (length) × 8 ft (width) × 9 ft in (height) container. In metric units this is 6.10 m (length) × 2.44 m (width) × 2.59 m (height), or approximately 38.5 m³. As the space needed to transport a load often exceeds a 20' unit, a 40' unit is also an option. In other words, there are basically two sizes of containers. As the contents will sometime need cooling, some TEU's has build-in refrigerator units, requiring power from the ship. Those reefers, as they are called, are placed right in front of, and right behind, the superstructure, and are connected to the ships power plant.

A few words on container capacity: Container capacity is like selling rubber bands by length.. In short; there are two ways to calculate container capacity: The (most correct) Maersk-way, and... the other.

  • Maersk calculate the container capacity remembering that it's all taking place aboard a ship, floating on water.
    That introduces the following variables: Size (20 foot), average weight of 14 tons, ship stability and maximum weight of the entire cargo, and then a political factor.

  • Most other shipping companies calculate the container capacity as if the ship was sitting on the desk in front of them.
    That introduces only a very simple equation: How many of these here 20 foot boxes can we possibly stack on the ship?
The official number of TEU's (twenty-foot equivalent units) for Emma are 11.000 units. In that number is 1.000 40 foot reefers. A reefer is a container with cooling capability, and requires electrical power from the ship. Why is the number for reefers given in 40 foot containers, and not 20 foot containers? Well.. there are 1.000 power-plugs available on the ship, and what really matters when we speak about reefers are power consumption, not physical length. A 40 foot reefer requires more power to keep cool, than the shorter 20 foot reefer. A capacity of 1.000 40 foot reefers are a lot! The Emma has a powerplant consisting of 5 Caterpillar 8M32 diesel generators with a combined power of 20,700 kW,
plus 1 combined gas/steam turbine generator of 8,500 kW (driven by the main engine exhaust).

The political factor is the competitive aspect. I'd imagine that the actual number for Emma is somewhat higher than 11.000 TEU's. An unofficial, extra capacity would give an edge, compared to competitors.. call it a bonus. The total actual number varies a lot, depending on who's writing about it, and I have read numbers ranging up to just short of 15.000 TEU's. My guess is somewhere in the 14.000's.


In my scale 1:220 the 40' teu will measure (LxWxH) 2.18x0.44x0.46 in. / 5.55x1.11x1.18 cm

How do we make that? Well... we don't! 
By luck, the German model train vendor Märklin used to make containers in the 1:220 scale, sold in a kit with a few 20' units, a few 40' units, and a couple of trucks. I managed to find one set on storage at a local dealer.

Märklin's item number is #89010.

The idea is to throw away the trucks, and make a mold of the containers, and then make a hole lot of them my self.

To save weight I will not make 150 - 200 complete containers. In stead I'll make only the visible sides of the groups, thus making "blocks" of containers that are completely hollow.
As an alternative these TEU's can be made in cardboard. I found a PDF on the internet that has the TEU's on it, and scaling it before printing will allow me to make 1:220 TEU's in cardboard if I so choose.
Please visit this web site for more info and the PDF's with the containers. It's in danish, but just download the "Skala 1:100" etc.

Replicating TEU's:

More soon!!



Webmaster: Robert Holsting